A complete list of holiday songs you can cover FOR FREE

If the calendar wasn’t enough a reminder then the falling temperatures have surely alerted you that the holiday season is officially upon us. Some of you have probably witnessed advertisements featuring Santa Claus already, and if you haven’t I can guarantee that you will soon enough.

Every year we see artists of all sizes from every genre imaginable try to leverage love of the holidays with cover songs intended to boost interest in an otherwise slow time for the industry. Some of those efforts works better than others, but we encourage them all the same. Fans love having new material to enjoy, even if it’s a cover song of a holiday classic that has already been covered numerous time before. After all, no one has ever done it quite the way YOU would do something, so you should never let the fact others have attempted something similar stop you from showcasing what sets you apart.

There are two ways to approach cover songs: You can pay for the rights to use a song owned by someone else OR you can cover a song currently in the public domain without paying a dime. We suggest the latter, which is why we scoured the internet in search of holiday classics that you can cover for free. The results of that search can be found below…

Here is a list of holiday songs currently in the public domain:

“Angels We Have Heard On High”

“Auld Lang Syne”

“Away In The Manger”

“Deck The Halls”

“The First Noel”

“Go Tell It On The Mountain”

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”

“Hark, The Herald Angels Sing”

“I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day”

“I Saw Three Ships”

“It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”

“Jingle Bells”

“Joy To The World”

“Come All Ye Faithful”

“O Holy Night”

“O Little Town Of Bethlehem”

“Silent Night”

“There’s a Song In The Air”

“Toyland"

“The Twelve Days of Christmas”

“Up On The Housetop”

“We Three Kings"

“We Wish You A Merry Christmas”

“What Child Is This?“

Many classic Christmas songs that are presumed to be in the public domain are in fact copyrighted, so make sure to double-check your sources before deciding a track is public domain. PDInfo Online (www.pdinfo.com) is a good starting point if the liner notes and copyright information are unavailable. Here are just a few notable songs that would require a mechanical license:

Christmas Songs NOT in the public domain…

“Winter Wonderland” (Written by: Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith)

“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells)

There is no question that some of the songs mentioned above have been reinterpreted by so many artists that putting an original spin on proceedings seems impossible, but it’s often the most challenging of endeavors that prove to be the most fruitful. By taking a holiday classic like the ones above and making it your own you’re further engaging already devoted followers while simultaneously creating an amazing opportunity to reach new fans. The holiday season generates a large amount of sales and internet searches for seasonal music, and with proper tagging your efforts will reach countless new listeners who could very quickly be converted into fans.

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the Director of Customer Engagement at Haulix and host of the company's podcast, Inside Music. He is also a public speaker known for promoting careers in the entertainment industry, as well as an entertainment journalist with over a decade of experience. His bylines include Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Substream Magazine, Nu Sound, and Under The Gun Review, among other popular outlets.